Triple H on the impact of John Cena’s turn went beyond wrestling

Triple H recently spoke about the shocking heel turn of John Cena, emphasizing how monumental the moment was in WWE history. He stated, “Just recently, John Cena, when we talk about generational stars, for 20-plus years, has been the ultimate good guy in WWE. For him personally, that’s just who he is. Done more wishes for Make-a-Wish than any other celebrity in history. He’s just an incredible human being. But his character, John Cena, his character has been the ultimate good guy for 20-plus years.”

He highlighted the role of The Rock, now portraying ‘The Final Boss’, in influencing this change, saying, “The Rock, who now has a character developed called ‘The Final Boss’, he’s on the board of TKO legitimately, but it’s part of the character, and he has all this power and control. He just used some of that power and control, and John Cena just turned heel, became a bad guy, for the first time.”

Triple H underscored the magnitude of the turn, calling it “one of the biggest stories we have ever done.” He continued, “Within a few hours, that moment had over 100 million views on social media, within hours. It was front and center on SportsCenter. It resonated everywhere.”
He even noted that the moment was so culturally significant that “Jon Stewart used it as a vehicle to explain Washington D.C. and political power with a new administration.”

The impact of Cena’s turn went beyond wrestling, making its way into politics. Triple H shared a remarkable anecdote, “I think it’s no secret my mother-in-law is the Secretary of Education, and she just had a moment the other day where she was walking out of the State of the Union, and the one question someone shouted at her was, ‘Ms. McMahon, as the new Secretary of Education, what do you think about John Cena turning heel?’”

Concluding, he reiterated its widespread influence, saying, “It resonated so massively. It transcended everything. It was water cooler talk around the globe and made headlines everywhere.”

Source: 19th Annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference